I was kayaking my favorite lake, going around my favorite island. The islands there are essentially piled rock with a layer of organic material on top. Trees and plants grow thick and have very shallow root systems. It's a small island and is uninhabited. Winter always takes many trees on the edge into the water, and then in spring it explodes with new growth along the"new" coast line. It looks different every year and is where I've always thought I would collect a tree for bonsai when I'm ready/educated enough.

Well, I came upon 2 young trees in dire straits. Over the winter, their sod had been lifted and shifted with the ice. It looks like the thaw deposited them on top of a dead tree, about 3-4 feet off the ground. They looked pretty sad, and I immediately thought "oh, I can save them!" I pulled them off. Some small roots had grown in tip the driftwood of the dead tree, and the sod was rather heavy, but I keep a small knife in my kayak that I used it to cut off excess sod. Minor root trimming, but otherwise I barely disturbed the small amount of rootball they had, compared to digging a tree out of the ground.

I'm wondering what I should do with them for now, because the following don't match up with the ideal situation of collecting a wild tree. It's the wrong time of year. They don't have much root system to work with. They are obviously not in ideal health due to not having access to water this season. I don't have anywhere to put 5 foot trees in the garden.

Ideally for me, I would like to trunk chop now so that I can pot them in nursery pots and over winter them maybe in the shed. Can I do that, not mess with roots, and work more in the appropriate time in 2017?

Or, does anyone have another plan?